Nuggets 117, Rockets 105: Denver crashes the boards, ends Rockets’ run at home

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There were offensive boards long and short. Nuggets misses were tipped back in. Some were followed and missed only to be ripped away by the Nuggets’ big men bullying the Rockets out of their way.

Yet for all the ways the Rockets were pushed around, with the Nuggets’ most reliable offense often coming when they missed shots and beat the Rockets to the rebound, one rebound stood for all the rest.

With the Nuggets holding a three-point lead midway through the fourth quarter, Denver rookie Kenneth Faried missed a free throw and still beat the Rockets to the rim, slamming back home his miss almost before any Rockets player left his feet. The Rockets never stopped the Nuggets again as Denver blew out the Rockets down the stretch, 117-105, smashing the Rockets four-game home winning streak.

This is nothing new. The Rockets have been outrebounded in nine consecutive games. But in many ways, this was the worst. The Nuggets scored 33 second-chance points, a dozen more than any team has against the Rockets this season, 20 more than the Nuggets average or the Rockets typically allow.

The Nuggets outworked the Rockets just as clearly as the Jazz had on Wednesday. And just as the Rockets’ defense fell apart in Utah, it crumbled in the fourth quarter Friday at Toyota Center.

As if the Nuggets had worked out the kinks with all those extra shots — their 97 attempts and 35 free throws attempted were both the most the Rockets have allowed in a game this season — the Nuggets scored with ease in the fourth quarter. They made 70 percent of their shots in the final quarter, the best shooting in a quarter against the Rockets this season.

They scored on each of their final 12 possessions, beginning with Faried’s put back.
The Rockets stayed in the game with Kevin Martin scoring a season-high 35 points and Kyle Lowry scoring 15 of his 17 in the fourth quarter. But they did not have nearly enough defense or rebounding to win it.

“They had guys out there who were way hungrier than we were,” Lowry said.

To McHale, it was all about effort and intensity.

“Did you see the game?” he said when asked how the Nuggets scored 54 points in the paint. “They threw it up there. Then they threw us out of the way and got it. That usually leads to paint points. You got a guy in front of you. He beats you. Helps comes. They drop it off. That leads to paint points.”

The Nuggets beat the Rockets on the board with Nene out and with center Timofey Mozgov going out with a sprained ankle after just 18 minutes.

“There’s no excuses for that,” Chandler Parsons said. “We should never play that way. We should never get out-worked like that. We should never have guys beat us to the floor on loose balls. It’s all about effort and our effort has been awful the last two games.”